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March 8, 2006 Meeting
Official Minutes
Informal Notes and Photos
Agenda
Chair Ivan Weiss's Message for March
Official Minutes
March 8th Meeting
24. Chair Ivan Weiss called the meeting to order at 7:06 PM. Richard Bartlett led the flag salute.
25. The membership approved the agenda and the minutes of the February meeting.
26. Chair Weiss recognized elected officials who were present, including Seattle City Councilmember Sally Clark and King County Councilmember Dow Constantine.
27. Program: Mark Wilson, Megan Dixon and Richard Conlin
28. Mark Wilson, candidate for U. S. Senate
28.1 Mark is a former United States Marine and a former Bering Sea crab fisherman. He is a candidate for Maria Cantwell’s U. S. Senate seat on the Democratic ticket. Wilson wants to reach out to military families and labor.
28.2 Wilson feels we've organized our economy around all things military. This is one reason we engage in military adventures is because we've invested so much in the military. He proposes to take a huge portion of this and direct to it towards a national back-to-works program to bring renewable energy resources and sources to communities.
28.3 Wilson 51 year-old father to a 3 year old son - his "personal war on terror".
29. Questions and answers for Mark Wilson:
29.1 What's he offering Eastern Washington voters? The voice of reason. Opposition to Bush policies which take us in a direction of mutually assured destruction.
29.2 What would he do differently than the current Senator? Sensible, immediate withdrawal of our troops from Iraq. Mission is accomplished. Now Bush and Cheney and their cronies are plundering and privatizing everything.
29.3 What is his position regarding drilling in ANWR? Opposes drilling in ANWR. Need to push renewable energy thru Apollo Alliance and similar initiatives.
29.4 What does he think about the filibuster of Judge Alito’s nomination (Cantwell voted for cloture)? Very disturbing outcome. Wilson would have voted no to cloture and against Alito’s confirmation.
29.5 What does he think of CAFTA and similar trade agreements? Need to renegotiate these - we've outsourced a million jobs. One result: China adding is adding 30,000 vehicles to the world in Beijing alone.
29.6 Does he have sufficient financing – a war chest to oppose Cantwell? Yes - he has 6 months between now and the primary - what counts is votes not dollars. Wilson has volunteers working on his behalf.
29.7 How does Wilson feel about the destruction of the oceans? "President Gore" was traveling the country recently against global warming. Wilson was a meteorologist in the Marine Corps – there is a collision impending between peak oil and global warming. Need to go renewable in a huge way. Rebuild railroads - move away from the family car.
29.8 Wilson would make the final 2 years of the Bush nightmare hell for W and company - unifying behind whoever is the nominee. We also need to elect Darcy Burner - get a Democratic majority in Congress.
29.9 What's difference between Wilson and Maria Cantwell? 51% of Americans are women, 18% of Congress are women – he is only running against Cantwell because he feels she does not represent Washington State and is not re-electable. Our own State party platform needs to be a litmus test for support - she must commit to it - we need an electable candidate.
29.10 Wilson has run for three different offices under three different parties – won’t that harm his chances? On the contrary, Wilson believes this is one of his greatest strengths – ability to reach out to others. 129 votes were difference in governor's race. He is able to talk to issues.
30. Megan Dixon. Megan works with the “yes on I-937” - clean energy initiative.
30.1 Twenty-one other states have passed a renewable energy program. Texas has one of the strongest renewable energy programs. Environmental impacts are strong concern - reducing pollution and global warming. Such reductions will benefit world farms. Passing this initiative increases the amount of wind power in Washington State - each turbine will generate $5000 for the farmer owning the land. The initiative needs to collect 160,000 signatures by June 30th this year to get the initiative on the ballot. They need our help.
30.2 This initiative will also unite the progressives of Washington state - wrest the initiative process from Tim Eyman.
31. Richard Conlin, Seattle City Councilmember.
31.1 Conlin started by thanking us for our support – he carried all but 8 precincts in the 34th - appreciated our endorsement and support.
31.2 Focus on three issues -
31.2.1 First, Conlin is chairing the Environment, Emergency Management and Utilities Committee. It will work on critical issues, e.g. emergency management. We have some serious needs to make sure our City is as prepared as it possibly can be. We need to get the information out to the neighborhoods. Earthquake preparation and pandemic flu are top priorities. Conlin serves on the Board of Health.
31.2.2 Second, there is a special committee on annexation, created this past Monday (March 6th). Members are Councilmembers Conlin, Drago and Della. They will work with Burien and other jurisdictions to help illuminate the issues and come to a decision this year.
31.2.3 Third, the Viaduct. Today the legislature approved a measure which puts the City Council in the position of approving the alternative for the viaduct. The Council can conduct public hearing / process and vote itself to recommend an alternative, or put an advisory measure on the ballot in November.
31.3 A number of members then asked questions or made comments on the viaduct / tunnel issue. Conlin clarified that the Legislature’s mandated deadline is November 1st for the Council to act. The Seattle City Council never has had the authority to act on the issue before - now they do. It is unusual for the Council to be put in the position of influencing this decision. Mitigation of the problems of commuting and noise during the construction process is another portion of this decision.
32. Open Microphone. At this point, Chair Weiss asked members to come to the microphone to speak on any issue the wished. Some topics discussed included use of computer systems used for voting, support of labor unions, e.g. Northwest Airlines, announcement of the Young Democrats’ upcoming Awards Banquet, support of biofuels, public funding of election campaigns, a moratorium on the use of the death penalty, impeachment of President Bush, a federal Department of Peace, the travesty of the need to raise the Federal government’s debt limit from 8.1 billion to 9 billion, an invitation to attend the West Seattle Democratic Women’s meeting, discussion of the Cantwell-Wilson U.S. Senate race, Adam Smith’s support of trade with China, yet China tramples on human rights, a request for supporting our state employees and our state employees bargaining unit, announcements about the Drinking Liberally Burien group and Hospitality House’s spring fundraiser in Burien, clearly defining criteria for closing Seattle Public schools (the 34th district will take a disproportionate hit) and privacy - unwarranted wiretaps done by the Bush administration.
33. Chair Weiss announced that next meeting in April will feature our annual legislative session wrap-up with Senator Erik Poulsen, plus Representatives Eileen Cody and Joe McDermott.
34. No PCO applications were received this month.
35. The Meeting adjourned at 8:42 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Bill Schrier, Secretary
Informal Notes and Photos
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Mark Wilson, Candidate for U.S. Senate, Democrat
Richard Conlin, Seattle City Councilmember |
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Megan Dixon, speaking on behalf of I-937, a clean and alternative energy initiative
Nels Ekroth, long-time member, with Chair Ivan Weiss
The March Meeting
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Agenda
Meeting of Wednesday March 8th
The Hall at Fauntleroy
9131 California Avenue S.W.,
West Seattle, Washington
34TH DISTRICT DEMOCRATS
"All The Democracy You Can Handle"
• 6:30 PM - Social - drinks provided, please bring potluck food to share
• 7:00 p.m. - Call to Order
• Flag Salute
• Approval of Agenda
• Approval of Minutes (February meeting)
• 7:05 p.m. - Chair's Report
• Note: Other reports from State Committeepersons, County Committeepersons, Treasurer, Outreach Committee, etc. will not be rendered in person at the meeting. See the newsletter for these reports, or click on the links to go to a page on the website with the latest reports.
7:30 p.m. - Program
• We have two speakers - Mark Wilson, who is seeking the Democratic Party nomination for the U.S. Senate seat held by Maria Cantwell, and an old friend and frequent visitor, Seattle City Councilman Richard Conlin.
• Open microphone - share ideas - especially ideas generated during the March 4th caucus.
• More details: see the Chair's message.
8:20 p.m. - New Business
• PCO Appointments
8:55 p.m. - Old Business, Good of the Order, Adjourn
Next Meetings:
• April 12th - Legislative Session Recap
Message From the Chair
March 2006
This meeting's for you!
We have had a nice run of meeting programs in the 34th District Democrats. We try to make the meetings relevant and lively, and speaking for the Executive Board, we are happy that the members appreciate our efforts.
We intend to continue doing this. Our tentative schedule for April is to have Senator Erik Poulsen and Representatives Eileen Cody and Joe McDermott report on the Legislative session. For May, we are planning a program on alternative energy. People will be amazed at how much is going on right in our District. In June, we might tackle our District's most pressing local issue-North Highline annexation.
But for March, we offer a change of pace. We have two speakers - Mark Wilson, who is seeking the Democratic Party nomination for the U.S. Senate seat held by Maria Cantwell, and an old friend and frequent visitor, Seattle City Councilman Richard Conlin. Both speakers will address us for 10 minutes each, then field our questions. And, we hope, we will appoint several new Precinct Committee Officers. The rest of the meeting will be yours-one big "good of the order." We're not getting lazy. We could have filled the March program.
We're an ambitious lot, and we want to pack as much activity into our monthly meetings as we can. But we wondered if we weren't tipping too far in that direction. Members had wanted to speak and exchange ideas, and we worried that although our intentions were good, we weren't providing enough time for the interchange we needed.
So we decided to let our members fill the program for March. We'll have limits on speaker time, of course, and a few other ground rules. Bring food and drink, and let's just kick back and enjoy each other's contributions. We know you won't let us down.
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Those of us who ventured to Olympia on Presidents Day (my guess is about 20 members from the 34th) enjoyed one of the most action-packed days in some time.
Members of the King County Legislative Action Committee and District members met with our Legislators in their offices, then gathered for lunch in the Columbia Room of the Capitol, where a group of close to 50 people heard updates from about a dozen Legislators on a wide variety of measures.
Several stayed for floor sessions and committee hearings; others went to St. Martin's University for the State Party's Precinct Committee Officer training. Several PCOs had shuttled over from St. Martin's to the Capitol for lunch with the LAC.
In the afternoon session at St. Martin's, Professor David Domke of the University of Washington delivered a rousing speech on personal communication for PCOs. The room was packed. I estimate that about 300 people were there; more than I had seen at PCO training before.
Domke was great, and I'd love to have him speak to the 34th sometime soon, but people had packed the room to hear Howard Dean, and they were not disappointed.
Dean is proving that a Democratic National Committee Chairman can be an effective spokesman, an effective organizer, and an effective fundraiser, all at once. He wowed the crowd again at the crab feed immediately following PCO training.
Once again, the place was packed. Organizers said it was the best-attended and most lucrative event yet. Governor Gregoire and our entire U.S. House delegation were there, along with 8th District candidate Darcy Burner and 4th District candidate Richard Wright, and active, fired-up Democrats from across the state.
PCO Dina Johnson took a lot of pictures, which should be on our Web site by the time you are reading this.
We'll see you on March 8 for "all the democracy you can handle." Ivan Weiss, Chair
If you have any questions, please call me at 206-463-4647 or e-mail me at ivan.weiss@centurytel.net.
Ivan Weiss, Chair, 34th District Democrats
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